Lalith Gunaratne

I am a parent, a husband, an entreprenuer, activist, consultant, teacher, trainer and facilitator. I am a mechanical engineering technlogist technologist (nuclear) qualified in Ontario, Canada, but never worked a day in the nuclear industry. Instead, I started a solar electricity company with two others (Viren Perera and Pradip Jayewardene) in Sri Lanka and developed a commercial model to manufacture and market small scale solar photovoltaic systems for rural households without access to electricity back in 1987. We developed a succesful model using a retail network of dealers and technicians and complemented it with micro financing to make it easier for people to buy a system. We sold the company in 1999 to Shell Renewables International and I concentrated on my rural and renewable energy consulting business under LGA Consultants. I worked for many years promoting renewable technologies, advocating better policies and financing and also looked at the human/technology nexus in promoting renewables. I am also the founder member and convenor of the Energy Forum of Sri Lanka, an advocacy organization promoting renewable energy. I also assisted the founding of the Solar Industries Association of Sri Lanka. In 2001, a close friend, Robert Vanderwall who is in human resources development and training business came to Sri Lanka on a holiday from Australia. I organized an experiential team centered leadership training programme and realized this was ideal for Sri Lankan organizations. We established the Sri Lankan arm of Sage Training Australia to work on leadership, team building, communications, values, perfomrance management with a focus in individual and organizational development. We look at emotional and spiritual intelligence of people and organizations as these form the bedrock of sustainable development, whether it is people or organizations. I also work now with youth, as we realize we have to teach them values, ethics and good leadership when they are young. I am the lead trainer for the British Council Dreams and Teams programme and also developed a Cricket Leadership programme. Personally, I love to keep fit, play rugby, soccer, swim and run. I love music (jazz, blues, soul) play the piano by ear and congas. I love to read, but also love the company of people. I love to party and dance. I have had a love for cars since I was a kid. I indulge not in real one's but collecting 1:43 scale model cars. Occasionally playing with them brings out the kid in me. The best thing I did recently is to enrol and complete a MSc at University of Bath (School of Management) called Responsibility and Business Practice. It changed my life. I also studied marketing before this to get an understanding of how our consumerist world is perpetuated. My biggest challenge now is to see how I can contribute to bring peace to Sri Lanka and then the world. I am blessed with a wonderful spouse, Samantha and four children Sacha (15), Natalya (14), Aitana (12) and Rahel (8). They are my biggest critics as I try to live a life of inquiry and mindfulness.